System and method for selecting photographic images using index prints

ABSTRACT

A method for remotely selecting and ordering photographic prints, includes the steps of: sending a photographic film bearing a plurality of latent images to a photofinisher; developing the photographic film to produce visible images and scanning the visible images to create a digital image file at the photo finisher; producing an index print having a plurality of images from the photographic film along with an index number associated with each image and an order number; sending the index print to a customer; selecting images for which prints are desired from the index print; ordering photographic prints via telephone from the customer&#39;s home to the photofinisher, specifying the order number and the index numbers associated with the images for which prints are desired; and making photographic prints of the selected images at the photofinisher and sending the photographic prints to the customer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 09/487,065, filed Jan.19, 2000, entitled “System and Method For Selecting Photographic ImagesUsing Index Prints” by John R. Fredlund, David L. Patton, Roger A.Morton and Steven B. Paciocco, which is a continuation application ofSer. No. 08/510,733, filed Aug. 3, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,295,entitled “System and Method for Selecting Photographic Images UsingIndex Print” by John R. Fredlund, David L. Patton, Roger A. Morton andSteven B. Paciocco, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 08/201,735 filed Feb. 25, 1994 now abandoned, entitled “System andMethod for Selecting Photographic Images” by J. R. Fredlund, D. L.Patton, R. A. Morton and S. B. Paciocco.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to the field of photo processing and,more particularly, to the selection of photographic images for printing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A number of systems have been proposed for electronic processing ofprints. These include Kodak's Create-a-Print, where the operator goes toa photo store or mini lab location, inserts his negatives, and zooms andcrops or enlarges the image prior to printing. Other systems, likeKodak's Image Magic, provide for a combination of a stored image withthat of a “live” image of the customer, for prints which have beencropped and composed at a theme park. In addition, Photo CD™ provides amethod for putting selected images at full 35 mm film resolution on aPhoto CD™ disc.

Often, however, a consumer faces a problem in that he has received anumber of prints from a photo dealer or in the mail from a photofinisher and he wishes to send additional copies of these prints toother friends or relatives, or receive additional copies for himself.

In traditional photo processing environments, there has always been thedifficulty of determining which photographic negative contains the imageof choice. The customer often has difficulty determining whichphotographic negative contains the image of choice. Also, the customeroften has difficulty interpreting the negative as it would appear whenprinted. The customer must identify the images of interest on thenegative by identifying each negative to the prints he wants. He mustthen return the negative to the mini lab, photo store, or photoprocessor, either in person or by mail, and then must specify the sizeand number of each print. He must then wait for the new prints to bemade and then obtain these prints from the drug store, mini lab, orphoto finisher.

There are a number of problems with this approach. For instance, thesensitive film negative must be handled multiple times by the customer,adding a potential for scratching, fingerprinting, and otherwisedamaging the film. Also, the sleeve must be written on to convey theordering information. This works well if the customer does not insertthe negatives into the sleeve before writing on it. Otherwise, there isa potential for damaging the film by writing on the sleeve while thefilm is within. There is also a potential for improper recording ofdata. Furthermore, the small negative image is not easily identifiableby the customer, particularly when there are several similar images.Another problem is that the images on the film do not always line upwell with the preflashed numbers on the edge of the film. The customeris often confused as to whether an image is “number 9”, number “9A”, ornumber “10”. This confusion can result in selection of the wrong imagesfor reprint.

Recently, in an attempt to facilitate the process of orderingphotographic reprints, customers have been supplied with an index printcontaining a number of miniature images along with an associated indexnumber corresponding to the frame number on the film. Customers returnthe negatives bearing the images corresponding to the desired reprintsto the photofinisher and indicate the desired frame number from theindex print for reprints. Although this approach represents animprovement over prior techniques, it still has the drawback of havingthe customers handle the negatives, which can become soiled, damaged orlost while in the possession of the customer. When a customer does orderreprints, the negatives may be stored haphazardly and apart from theoriginal prints, making the negatives difficult to retrieve at a laterdate. Finally, this somewhat arduous process of obtaining additionalprints provides little impetus for reprints. The inconvenience ofordering is a barrier to ordering reprints.

It is seen then that it would be desirable to have an improved systemand method for facilitating ordering and re-ordering of prints fromnegatives or slides.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system for facilitating ordering of printsfrom negatives or slides, and enables a customer to select size,destination, text, frames and other options associated with photographicprints. The present invention streamlines the previously inconvenientmeans of selecting and ordering photographic reprints.

The present invention relates to a method for storing digital files andordering image products or services with respect to the stored digitalfiles, comprising the steps of obtaining a digital file of at least oneimage, storing said digital file in a memory device for a specifiedperiod of time, facilitating electronically ordering an image product orservice using said digital file and responsive to receiving an order foran image product or service using said digital file and automaticallyextending the period of time that said digital file is stored in saidmemory device.

The present invention also relates to a method for storing digital filesand ordering image products or services with respect to the storeddigital files, comprising the steps of obtaining a digital file of atleast one image, storing said digital file in a memory device for aspecified period of time, facilitating electronically ordering an imageproduct or service using said digital file and extending the period oftime that said digital file is stored in said memory device in responseto a user request.

The present invention also relates to a method for storing digital filesand ordering image products or services with respect to the storeddigital files, comprising the steps of obtaining a digital file of atleast one image, storing said digital file in a memory device for aspecified period of time, facilitating electronically ordering an imageproduct or service by a customer using said digital file andautomatically deleting said digital file within said specified period oftime.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, the accompanying drawings and the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system for remotely selectingphotographic prints according to the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an index print employed in the method of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the ordering of photographic printsaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the digital image compression steps usedin one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the image decompression steps performedon the compressed digital image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment of the present invention, acustomer exposes a roll of film in a cartridge 10 in her camera 12 andsends the film to a photo processing lab 14 to be developed. As is wellknown, a retail outlet such as a photo store, drugstore, or supermarketmay be an intermediary in sending the film to the photoprocessing lab.At the photoprocessing lab 14, the film is developed in a processor 16to produce processed film 18. The processed film 18 is printed in aphotographic printer 20 to produce a set of prints 22. The processedfilm 18 is also scanned in a scanner 24 to produce a digital image fileof the images on the film.

A computer 26 controls the scanner 24, processes the digital image file,and stores the digital image file along with a customer order number anda unique customer identification number in a mass storage device 28 suchas a magnetic tape drive or an optical disc. An index printer 30 isconnected to the computer 26 and employs the digital image file storedon storage device 28 to produce an index print. The index printer 30 maycomprise for example a separate color thermal printer, or a color CRTprinter for exposing photographic film. As shown in FIG. 2, the indexprint 32 includes the customer order number 34 that identifies thedigital image file from which the index print was made, and a series ofimages 36, each having an associated index number 37.

The developed film 18, and prints 22 are returned to the customer alongwith the index print 32. Instructions 38 may be included with thecustomer order, informing the customer of the printing and relatedphotographic services available, and the prices for the services. Theinstructions 38 may be printed out using a coupon printer 39 connectedto computer 26. The customer is instructed that a digital record oftheir negatives was made and that by calling, for example, a 1-800number, they can either have the digital file of their negatives deletedor extended for a certain period of time, such as a month. The customercan then have a specified period of time to respond by ordering aservice. If the customer does not order any service in that period oftime, their file is automatically deleted. During the time period, thereare several services that they can order, and special price advantagesmay be offered. If any service is ordered, maintenance of the digitalnegatives file may be extended.

The customer calls on her touch tone telephone 40 and connects with anoperator or computer voice ordering system 42. As shown in FIG. 3, thevoice ordering system instructs the customer to enter the order number(44), and then requests a frame number to be entered (46). Next, thecustomer is directed to enter a code for the desired service (48) to beperformed with respect to the image corresponding to the desired framenumber. The customer is queried as to whether additional services arerequired (50). If the answer is yes, the previous steps are repeated; ifno, the address and credit card number of the customer is verified (52),and the order process is ended.

During the ordering process, the customer may be prompted to record avoice message that is recorded and provided with a print relatedservice, such as a voice chip associated with the print, or a magneticor other type of recording on the print or associated with the print.The voice message may also be transcribed and printed on a label or onthe back of the print.

Returning to FIG. 1, computer 26 is connected to a print server 54 thatcontrols a number of digital printers 56, and 58. The digital printersmay include, for example, digital printers for exposing conventionalsilver halide color photographic paper to make high qualityenlargements, thermal dye transfer printers and ink jet printers formaking poster size enlargements. A Photo CD™ writer 60 is also connectedto the computer 26 for recording the customer selected images on a PhotoCD™. A bill printer 62 is connected to the computer 26 for printing thecustomer bill.

After completion, the customer order, generally designated 64, includingany photographic prints 66, Photo CD's™ 68 and the customer bill 70 issent to the customers delivery address 72, either by mail or parcelservice.

Services which may be ordered include requesting a Photo CD™ from thedigital image file whose images appear on the index print. Digitalenlargements may be made from selected digital image files whose imagesappear on the index print. Digital prints, enlargements, and other imagebearing items made from selected digital image files may be sentdirectly to the customer or to any person designated by the customer.Digital greeting cards or business cards may be made from selecteddigital negatives. Other products and services such as images insertedin pre-prepared templates, printed album pages, collages, recorded voicemessages, etc. can be offered. Additionally, for a nominal fee, thecustomer can extend the length of time their digital negatives arestored.

Alternatively, the photofinisher may not make any prints originally andcan keep the film 18 for use in optical printing later when the customerplaces his or her order (or a set of prints could be made and sent tothe customer while the negatives are retained by the photofinisher). Ifthe customer chooses to maintain the digital file or make a print order,the customer then has that specified period of time to respond byordering a service. If the customer does not order anything within thattime period, their file is automatically deleted. The negatives could bedestroyed or returned. During the time period, there are severalservices that can be ordered, and special prices may apply. Ordering aservice may also extend the maintenance of their digital negative files.Services may be ordered using a touch tone telephone and the unique IDnumber, without requiring additional personnel to take the orders. Asimages are discarded by the customer, the storage devices can be reused.

Because the digital printers and digital storage are capital intensiveitems, it may be preferable to separate the digital printing part of theoperation from the photo processing lab and place it in a digital imagecenter that serves several photo processing labs. FIG. 4 illustratesthis approach. After the films are scanned at the photo processing lab14, and the index prints made, the digital image files are stored onmagnetic tape cassettes 76 in digital cassette recorder 77. Severalorders, such as one day's production may be placed on one cassette. Thecassettes 76 are shipped to a digital image center 78, where they areplaced in a multiple cassette drive 80 for future access.

Alternatively, the digital image files on the cassettes may betransferred to another storage medium such as optical disc at thedigital image center 78. Also, rather than physically shipping a tapecassette 76, the digital image file may be transmitted to the digitalimage center over a high speed data link such as a fiber optic cable.

As shown in FIG. 5, to minimize storage size, the digital image filesmay be compressed prior to storage. The digital images from scanner 24are passed as 3-plane, 2K×3K pixel, digitized color images. The digitalimages are processed (100) to convert the negative film scans from cyan,magenta, and yellow color space to Kodak's YCC color space (a luminanceY, and color difference signal CC color space). Slide film scans areconverted from red, green, blue color space to Kodak's YCC color space.The bit-depth of each pixel in a color plane is reduced from 12-bits to8-bits using a non-linear luminance mapping which more evenlydistributes quantization errors based on human perception rather thanimage intensity.

The high resolution version of the YCC image is now down sampled (102)in each chrominance channel by a factor of 2:1 in each of thex-direction and y-directions in the image. This can generally be donewith very little loss of data due to the reduced information content inthese channels.

The image is further reduced in storage requirement by performing JPEGimage compression (106) on both the low and high resolution images. Thecompression ratio achieved will depend on the image content and thedesired image quality (i.e. the level of acceptable compression inducedartifacts in the decompressed image). The compression technique andquantization matrix are selected to enable compression ratios on theorder of 5:1 to 15:1 to be achieved.

Alternately, a lower spatial resolution scanner 24 may be used to scanthe film image in combination with a compression module which usessmaller compression ratios (e.g. 1.5:1 to 3:1) to achieve a similarcompressed storage image file size. The lower scanning data rateadvantage of this method is offset by more limited ability to enlargethe resulting stored image without introducing visible image artifacts.The resulting compressed digital image files are stored (108).

To decompress the digital image file, the operations performed by thecomputer 26 in the photo processing lab 14, or computer 80 in thedigital image center 78 will now be described with reference to FIG. 6.To utilize the stored compressed image, JPEG decompression is applied(112) to reverse the effects of the JPEG compression step (106). Thechrominance channels are then up sampled (114) to reverse the downsampling (102) previously performed on these channels.

Color transformation is performed (116) as necessary to translate theencoded Kodak YCC image color space image into the control signal spacenecessary to drive the intended printing device.

The image is then resized (118) based on the desired final image sizeand the image printer's writing resolution (i.e. pixels per inch). Theprevious two steps are sometimes reversed to eliminate unnecessary pixelcomputations (e.g. color transformation may be performed after resizingwhen the resulting image is to be significantly reduced in size to avoidcolor correcting pixels which would never be printed as a result of asubsequent resizing step).

Image sharpening is generally performed (120) as one of the last stepsin the processing chain to compensate for the image printer's naturalmodulation transfer function (MTF). Alternately, this sharpening step issometimes performed prior to resizing to save processing time ifsignificant enlargement is requested and the resulting loss of imagequality will not be objectionable.

Next, if a device which is not able to reproduce “continuous-tone” color(i.e. 8-bits per pixel per color plane) is used to make this finalprint, a halftoning step (124) is employed to render the image to thereduced number of bits capable of being printed per pixel per color bythe final image printing device (e.g. an inkjet print might be reducedto 1-bit per pixel per color to accommodate this device's bitonalprinting capability).

As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, various modifications ofthe present invention are possible without departing from the scope ofthe invention. For example, the customer is able to order goods andservices via a telephone, by looking at the index print and makingselections on the touch tone pad.

Industrial Applicability and Advantages

The present invention is useful in the field of photo processing in thatit reduces the inconvenience of ordering prints and reprints fromphotographic negatives. The present invention has the advantage ofstreamlining the previously inconvenient means of selecting and orderingphotographic prints and reprints. The present invention has the furtheradvantage of decreasing the multiple handling of sensitive filmnegatives by the customer. The present invention offers the potentialfor eliminating unwanted prints by allowing the customer to peruse theimages before ordering an initial printing of the negative. The presentinvention also has the advantage of eliminating improper recording ofdata. Finally, the present invention has the advantage of makingnegative images more easily identifiable by the customer, particularlywhen there are several similar images.

Having described the invention in detail and by reference to thepreferred embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that othermodifications and variations are possible without departing from thescope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

PARTS LIST

10 film cartridge

12 camera

14 photo processing lab

16 film processor

18 processed film

20 photographic printer

22 photographic prints

24 film scanner

26 computer

28 storage device

30 index printer

32 index print

34 customer order number

36 index images

37 index number

38 instructions

40 telephone

42 voice ordering system

44 enter order number step

46 enter frame number step

48 enter code for desired service step

50 identify additional services step

52 verify customer credit information step

54 print server

56 digital printer

58 digital printer

60 Photo CD writer

62 bill printer

64 customer order

66 photographic prints

68 Photo CD

70 customer bill

72 customer delivery address

76 magnetic tape cassette

77 cassette recorder

78 digital image center

80 multiple cassette drive

100 image processing step

102 down sample step

106 JPEG compress step

108 store digital image step

112 JPEG decompress step

114 chrominance up sample step

116 color transformation step

118 resize image step

120 sharpen image step

124 halftone image step

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for storing digital files and orderingimage products or services with respect to the stored digital files,comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a digital file of at least oneimage; b) storing said digital file in a memory device for a specifiedperiod of time; c) facilitating electronically ordering an image productor service using said digital file; and d) responsive to receiving anorder for an image product or service using said digital file,automatically extending the period of time that said digital file isstored in said memory device.
 2. A method according to claim 1 whereinsaid electronic ordering is accomplished by entering said order using adevice capable of providing electronic communication over saidcommunication network.
 3. A method according to claim 2 wherein saiddevice is a phone.
 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein a touch padis used on said phone.
 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein saidimage product comprises a photographic print.
 6. A method according toclaim 1 wherein said obtaining said digital file comprises scanning aphotographic media.
 7. A method according to claim 1 wherein saidelectronic ordering comprises ordering by voice.
 8. A method accordingto claim 1 wherein said digital file is obtained by scanning aphotographic film.
 9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the imagesare scanned in a first location and transferred to a second location forstorage.
 10. A method according to claim 1 wherein said at least oneimage comprises a series of images.
 11. A method according to claim 10wherein said series of image are printed on an index print.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 11 wherein an order number identifies the digitalfile of said index print.
 13. A method for storing digital files andordering image products or services with respect to the stored digitalfiles; comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a digital file of at leastone image; b) storing said digital file in a memory device for aspecified period of time; c) facilitating electronically ordering animage product or service using said digital file; and d) extending theperiod of time that said digital file is stored in said memory device inresponse to a user request.
 14. A method according to claim 13 whereinstep d further includes charging said user a fee for extending saidperiod of time.
 15. A method according to claim 13 wherein saidelectronic ordering is accomplished by entering said order using adevice capable of providing electronic communication over saidcommunication network.
 16. A method according to claim 13 wherein saidimage product comprises a photographic print.
 17. A method according toclaim 13 wherein said obtaining said digital file comprises scanning aphotographic media.
 18. A method according to claim 13 wherein said atleast one image comprises a series of images.
 19. A method according toclaim 18 wherein said series of images are printed on an index print.20. A method for storing digital files and ordering image products orservices with respect to the stored digital files; comprising the stepsof: a) obtaining a digital file of at least one image; b) storing saiddigital file in a memory device for a specified period of time; c)facilitating electronically ordering an image product or service by acustomer using said digital file; and d) automatically deleting saiddigital file within said specified period of time.
 21. A methodaccording to claim 20 wherein said image product or service includes theservice of extending said specified period of time.
 22. A methodaccording to claim 20 wherein said electronic ordering is accomplishedby entering said order using a device capable of providing electroniccommunication over said communication network.
 23. A method according toclaim 20 wherein said image product comprises a photographic print. 24.A method according to claim 20 wherein said obtaining said digital filecomprises scanning a photographic media.